Photo courtesy of Amanda Pair Photography

This next tip comes from a conversation that I had with a Mother of the Bride.  She was the planner for the wedding and decided that the wedding day timeline was just too long, especially for the grandparents (having to arrive 2-3 hours before the ceremony for pictures).  

Don’t get me wrong, timelines are essential on a wedding and they are always longer than people (the groom) realize at first.  Let’s say you are getting married at 6:00, you need to be hidden away at 5:00, so his family will do pictures at 4:30, your family at 4:00, the bridal party at 3:00, you and your groom at 2:00, so that puts you getting dressed around 1:00, if your hair and makeup is already done. Whew!!  

For little ones and our older family members, this is an especially hard day.  This mother decided that since the couple was doing a 1st look (to get all of the photos over with before the ceremony) that they would save the grandparent pictures until after the ceremony.  It would also increase the length that the grandparents would be able to come to the reception!  Every wedding should do this!

Photo courtesy of Kelli + Daniel Taylor Photography

You don't see if often, and of course, it wouldn't work in a church, but for an outside ceremony, it is PERFECT!  After you say "I do" and share your first kiss as husband and wife, your guests throw rose petals or lavender as you exit the ceremony!  

So many wonderful things about this. The first is that you don't have to worry about having enough guests to "fill the picture" at the end of the reception.  Everyone knows that your guest count will dwindle as the evening progresses.  I say that your older guests tend to leave right after you have your 1st dance and cut the cake.  

For your photographer and videographer, they (we) will be excited because the lighting will be excellent if you leave after the ceremony!  

Photo courtesy of Morgan Trinker Photography

And although I don't recommend this, but we have done it a couple of times in twelve years, it does allow you to stay and continue to party and have shorter hours for your photog and videog.  The times when we have done this is when the couple is not planning on a traditional going away from the reception, their reception could even be at a hotel and they just plan to ride upstairs.  They might have tons of friends and family from out of state that they don't get to see very often and really want to stay and play.  (or go to the hotel bar afterwards)  

We like to tell the story of the wedding day so having a formal going away at the reception helps with the natural flow of the video.  But our solution is to do a great "last dance" before your vendors leave.  It is a perfect way to end the day!

Several summers ago we filmed a beautiful wedding at a local church.  Everything was just perfect for the day.  During the ceremony, one of the mics that was on a soloist went out right before he was about to sing.  When a mic goes bad, it doesn't just stop working, it transmits this awful sounding static that is heard by everyone in the church.  

Photo courtesy of David Boyd Photography 

I guess these things happen. The problem was that as soon as it started, we looked over to the sound board for the operator to fix the problem on the board and no one was there.  Yikes!  The sound board was turned on by the church, but they didn't have anyone to operate it.  I don't know if this is normal policy for lots of churches, but come on, the ceremony is under 45 minutes usually, can't the church pay someone to be there!!!!! 

If someone had been working, they could have had the ability to fix the mic problem or if nothing else, pull his mic altogether.  Because trust me, this guy could have carried the entire church without using a mic!  To make it worse, people were looking at us to fix the problem, but we couldn't.  It wasn't our sound board, and we are running cameras.  Needless to say, for the final edit, we tried and tried to minimize the static on the video, and we made HUGE improvements, but you could still hear it.  Thankfully the wonderful bride and her family didn't let it ruin the day. (This beautiful photo below was not from the wedding in question.)

Moral of the story, make sure that the church not only has a sound board, but also an operator for your wedding.  

Hey you, turn around!  I  can't see!

I thought I would post one of John's tips.  He likes to add his two cents every so often. I am not sure how I feel about, "Hey, you, turn around!  I can't see!"  I don't mind it, it works well for video and the audience, but it might be too untraditional for me to start a revolution about it.  Maybe I will just be pleasantly surprised when it happens.

We have had several couples turn toward the audience, with the officiant standing between them and the audience.  You are able to see their faces more and you don't spend 35 minutes staring at the back of the bride's dress.  So sure it has its advantages and we have seen it grow in popularity in the past year - just something to think about. What do you think about it?

Fill 'er up!

Photo courtesy of Simple Color Photography

We have already established that I am not the most traditional gal.  I appreciate tradition, especially when it comes to weddings, but sometimes I don't think you have to follow it all of the time.  Take for instance my next tip, Fill 'er up.  

Sometimes you have a bride that is from the city in which the wedding is taking place, and the groom is not.  When this occurs, you tend to have more people to come and want to sit on the "bride's side" at the church.  So the ushers fill up the entire left side with her friends/family.  But on the "groom's side", you don't have near as many people.  So it looks lopsided.  Even though it shouldn't matter, I wonder if it ever makes the parents of the less attended side feel bad. 

My solution?  Have your ushers seat the guests evenly.  Some people will still want to sit on the traditional side, but for those who don't care, use them to even it out.  I know for video, it will look better.  I love how this trend has become more popular in recent years.